Ah, it feels good to be back! I just had a few crazy weeks in school so I’ve been cooking and taking pictures but haven’t quite been able to post. So now I’m back with a basic technique that I use almost every time I cook, and I only learned it last year.
Cutting onions is actually really simple (and I think it’s pretty fun) when you know what you’re doing. This is what you might call the “restaurant style” cut, but I think it’s really just “the right way.” I learned this from Mike and you’ll see it on Food Network all the time…so now it’s time to learn it!
First, chop off the pigtail end (save the root end!). This is to create your first flat surface so you can chop more safely.
Next, with the flat end facing down, chop the onion in half through the root.
Peel off the skin, and the outermost later if it’s looking a little funky.
Starting at the middle, chop down to create 1/4-inch thick slices through the onion. You want to make sure you preserve the root–in other words, only cut to about 1/4-inch away from the root! This is *SUPER* important.
Rotate the onion 90 degrees and start chopping straight down, about 1/4-inch thick. Try to keep your slices consistent; the best way I found to do this is to use the onions that stick to the knife to line up for the next chop.
You’ll end up with just the root (and a whole bunch of awesomely perfectly chopped onions)!
That’s it! You can use this for shallots, too, which are my new favorite aromatic. Hopefully more with them soon!
